Question About Asthma

B.,
My youngest son has breathing problems as well. They cannot call it Asthma because he is not quite 2. (Cold season is worse) I would go to your regular pediatrician and have her checked out, if it is for sure asthma, they will be able to give you a better sense of direction. There are classes and support groups. My son had RSV as an infant and is also allergic to eggs. Does she have allergies too? Sometimes that can trigger symptoms. My advice is to start with your doctor...they can be very helpful.
Good Luck!
C.

First off, go back to your regular ped and if they still won't diagnose the asthma, get a second opinion by another ped or a specialist. My daughter sees a certified nurse practioner who specializes in asthma and runs a asthma camp every summer. I am not sure if you would want the name, but at the very least it would be a good source for some recommendations for doctors and specialists. She will always have the nebulizer, she would only need it more when she has stuffy noses, trouble breathing and cold weather. I do not know if she can yet be on a inhaler. My daughter was 4 years old when put on Advair. My best advice is that it does sound like asthma and push until you get her the right medication. Good Luck!

I would head over to a Allergy / Immunology facility such as the Park Nicollet system has in St. Louis Park. They have several Doctors that specialize in pediatric needs. What makes it tricky is Asthma can be spurred by emotional, temperature, etc. So that makes sense some at this point you don't see it now all the time. A breath lung capacity test (I think it is a peak flow meter) is what can help figure out Asthma along with the medical history. Asthma has been increasing not decreasing as a health issue. Maybe she will "grow" at of it as her lung capacity increases but depending on the severity of the asthma would effect that.

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/allergy/asthma....
Is the source of the following two quotes:

"Sometimes an infection can be a trigger and set off an asthma flare-up. If a kid comes down with a cold or the flu, his or her airways may become more sensitive than usual. In some kids, cold air itself can cause an asthma flare-up"Not every kid's asthma is the same, so there are different medicines for treating it. It's not like curing a sore throat or an earache, when everybody gets the same medicine. Instead, the doctor will think about what causes the asthma flare-ups, how fast the flare-ups happen, and how serious they are. Then he or she will decide on the best kind of treatment."

"Some kids need to take asthma medication only once in a while, when they have a flare-up. This is called rescue medicine because it works fast to open the airways, so the person can breathe. Other kids may need to take controller medicine every day. Controller medicine works to keep flare-ups from happening."

Here are some other links along with many other online resources to learn from:

http://www.medicinenet.com/asthma_in_children/article.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/asthma-in-children/AS000...

It is nothing to be "ashamed" of. Who should be be ashamed of? Those that pick-out "higher" risk individuals and make their life harder due a condition if properly and successfully best can be, treated. Husband has Allergies
and a cousin who has Asthma from a young age. He was diagnosed with a slight asthma condition but has not needed to take that medication as does not wheeze, so it only is a bother to him a little bit! Everyone is different to the level and severity and triggers. He can deny having Asthma since he does not need to take the medications for it as it does not bother him in everyday living. Wheezing can be a medical emergency so prevention maybe the answer. He does reduce the things that make his allergies WORSE. Like Cats, many types of Dogs (most) did not spend loads of time outdoors growing up.

My son was diagnosed with asthma after he had pnemonia when he was three. I too had no idea what wheezing sounded like. I took him to the doctor because it seemed like he always had a runny nose. His pediatrician reccomended taking him to an allergy/asthma specialist. They will test for allergies to rule it out, then test for asthma. He was diagnosed with asthma, only triggered in the winter. So in the winter he was taking a daily chewable Singulair tablet, and doing the nebulizer on occasion. Then after a couple of winters, he just grew out of it. He doesn't need the singulair or nebulizer any more. The specialist he saw said that there are certain "triggers" that can start asthma at any time in someones life. My son's happend to be phnemonia. See if your ped can reccomend a specialist.

I have asthma and have since I was little. I still have trouble with it from time to time. I think it is very important that you take your daughter to a doctor to discuss the issues she's had. Uncontrolled asthma is life threatening - I don't consider my asthma severe at all but there have been many times that I really needed to use my inhaler. Don't feel badly about not noticing - asthma kind of flares up with allergies, weather, illness - called 'triggers'. My mom didn't know I had asthma until I was 10 or so after years of having issues with it. you aren't a doctor so how would you know? Good luck

My daughter who is 17 months old now has been on a neb machine since she was 4 months old. She has to have it every day whether she is wheezing or not. My husband and his whole family have asthma so I'm pretty sure that Heather will have it too. She gets Pulmicort 2 times a day on a normal day but if she's sick with a cold, she has to have albuterol with it. I have asked the dr if they can diagnose her with asthma or not but they said that they can't do it yet. Heather also hates the neb, I don't know when they go to a inhaler so that you might need to ask your dr.

I have a son who just turned 2 in November and he has a problem with wheezing occasionally as well. (Usually the wheezing starts if he gets a cold.) My pediatrician also has not labelled him as "asthmatic", which is very smart. From what I understand, once it's on his record, it could affect him playing sports, military, etc. The first time it happened, I didn't know it was wheezing either. (My ped calls him a "happy wheezer".) After 2 visits to the ped that day, he ended up overnight at Children's Hospital. The doctors at the hospital were quick to diagnose him as "asthmatic" and were quite adamant about changing our lifestyle to keep future attacks at a minimum. (He has minor allergies to our pets.) The pediatrician was much more methodical, and wanted to see if it was something we could control and/or possibly find the cause. Needless to say, I went with the ped's advice. From what I understand, only time will tell if your child truly has asthma. Right now, my son only gets Albuterol/Xopenex when he's wheezing (like I said, usually only when he's sick) and Pulmicort, which is more of a maintenance drug, once a day throughout the winter months. We call his nebulizer his "breathing machine" and try to play games, visit fun children's Web sites, read a book, etc. while he uses it. At first he hated it, but now he thinks it's kind of neat. Your daughter may not like the nebs because the Albuterol makes their little hearts race. She might not like how it feels. We switched to Xopenex, an alternative, and our son does much better. As for knowing when she's wheezing, I usually have to lift my son's shirt and watch his chest. If you can see ribs when she breathes and an obvious struggle going on, then it's definitely wheezing. Also, over time, you'll get to know the "whistle" sound that accompanies wheezing. I don't know who your ped is, but I go to Dr. Bodine at Southdale Peds and I highly recommend him. He's very proactive and thourough. He seems to think my son will outgrow this, as there's a history of this with my nephews and they all outgrew it. Also, inhalers start when the child can take a deep breath in and hold in the medicine. Good luck!